ECI says some parties did not examine voters’ lists at appropriate time to flag errors

The Election Commission (EC) has said in a statement in New Delhi on Saturday (August 16, 2025) that utmost transparency is the hallmark of electoral roll preparation as per law, rules and guidelines.

Apparently countering the Congress’s charges on major anomalies in the preparation of voters’ lists across the country prior to the Lok Sabha elections, the ECI said it seemed to the panel that some political parties and their booth-level agents (BLAs) did not examine the electoral rolls at the appropriate time and did not point out errors, if any, to Sub-Divisional Magistrates/ Electoral Registration Officers, District Election Officers or Chief Election Officers. The poll panel added that it continues to welcome the scrutiny of electoral rolls by political parties and any elector.

The Opposition INDIA bloc had announced a series of protests against the special intensive revision (SIR) of voters’ lists and alleged malpractices in preparing the list. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will launch “Voter Adhikar Yatra” in Bihar on Sunday (August 17, 2025). The ECI has been denying the allegations made by the Opposition.

The ECI will address a Press Conference on Sunday to clear some matters regarding electoral rolls. 

In the statement, the ECI said pure electoral rolls strengthen democracy and political parties are involved at each stage of preparation of electoral roll. It said appropriate time and opportunity are given to electors and political parties to rectify errors, if any.

“The election system for Parliament and Assembly elections in India is a multi-layered decentralised construct as envisaged by law,” the statement said. Based on the guidelines issued by the Election Commission, Electoral Registration Officers (EROs), who are SDM-level officers, prepare and finalise the electoral rolls (ER) with the help of booth-level officers (BLOs). EROs and BLOs undertake the responsibility for the correctness of voter rolls, the statement added.

“After the publication of the draft electoral rolls, digital and physical copies of the same are shared with all political parties and put on the EC website for anyone to see. Following the publication of the draft ER, a full one-month period is available with the electors and political parties for the filing of claims and objections before the final ER is published,” the Commission said adding that digital and physical copies of the rolls are shared with all the recognised political parties.

”Following the publication of the final ER, a two-tiered process of appeals is available wherein the first appeal maybe preferred with the District Magistrate (DM) and the second appeal with the CEO of every State/UT. Utmost transparency is the hallmark of electoral roll preparation as per law, rules and guidelines,” the panel said adding that some political parties and individuals are raising issues about errors in electoral rolls, including the rolls prepared in the past.

“The appropriate time to raise any issue with the electoral rolls would have been during the claims and objections period of that phase, which is precisely the objective behind sharing the electoral rolls with all political parties and the candidates. Had these issues been raised at the right time through the right channels, it would have enabled the concerned SDM/ EROs to correct the mistakes, if genuine, before those elections. ECI continues to welcome the scrutiny of electoral rolls by political parties and any elector. It will help SDMs/ EROs to remove the errors and purify the electoral rolls which has always been the objective of ECI,” the panel said.